The Girl Next Door
by aicornduong
Summary: Sasori finally got into his high school after much delay and on his first day he meets a blonde that catches his interest. His problems pile up one after the other after he uncovers more of his interest and his life becomes potentially endangered!
1. The Door Opens

**My second attempt at a Saso/Dei romance, and this time, I promise I'll try to finish. I've lost my inspiration for my Shinobi High one, but if I get enough people to encourage me, I just might try again and rewrite it.**

**Summary:**

**Sasori finally got into his high school after much delay and on his first day he meets a blonde that catches his interest. His problems pile up one after the other after he uncovers more of his interest and his life becomes potentially endangered! Even more than it already has. He learns more about himself and finds that there is a LOT more to a person that meets the eye. Rating may potentially become M in later chapters.**

**-----**

"My name is Shizune, nice to meet you," the woman said, smiling. "The Headmaster will see you now, Sasori-kun. Go ahead and go in."

"Thank you, Miss Shizune," Sasori said. "It's nice to meet you too."

The teenager nodded in her direction as he said this and entered the door behind her on the right with his backpack full of school supplies on one shoulder. Inside, a blonde woman looked up from her task of signing papers and smiled at him, just as Shizune had.

"Welcome to my office, as you know, I am Headmaster Tsunade," she greeted, gesturing for him to sit down in a chair. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," Sasori replied in monotone. "I feel very welcome."

"That's good to hear," the headmaster said. "Now, school started a week ago and this happens to be your first day, can you explain yourself?"

"Yes," the red head answered. "An unexpected situation had arisen within my family. Three of my cousins' parents died at the most uncalled for time. They aren't old enough to take care of themselves, nor live by themselves. It was written in their parents' will that if they were to die before my cousins became of age to live alone, they were to live with a relative, not go to an orphanage."

All while Sasori explained himself, Tsunade was writing something on paper, shuffling through her desk, and doing things on her computer.

"And?" she inquired, looking up at him. She seemed to be finished with her other activities and gave him her full attention.

"I am their last living relative," he continued, "and though I am a minor myself and living alone, I am able to and currently work, drive, and sustain myself. Apparently, they deemed that I was also capable of taking care of my cousins, so I was to go pick them up and settle them into my own home. Picking them up, driving back, and making arrangements for them took up a lot of time."

Tsunade nodded in understanding and assembled a few papers she handed to Sasori. He took them and looked them over, seeing his schedule, a map, and a planner. THe planner had the bell schedules on the back.

"Your absences are excused," she stated, giving him a small slip of paper. "It's almost about to be second period right now, so just go and stand outside your second period class."

"That's it? Shouldn't I go to my first period and be marked as late?"

"No. That would mean more paperwork.. and I hate paperwork. Just go do what I tell you and you'll do fine, okay?" Tsunade said, winking at him. "You're excused."

Nodding, he stood up and bade farewell to the headmaster before leaving. On his way out, he also did the same to Shizune, who smiled and waved at him. He examined his schedule, then the map he was given, quickly memorized them, and shoved the papers, folded, in the back pocket of his black jeans. It didn't take Sasori long to find the classroom. He stood outside it and looked at the slip of paper that the Headmaster had handed to him.

It simply said, "His absences for the past week have been excused. Please give him any work that he missed within that time," and at the end was signed a fancy signature.

Folding up the slip, he tucked it away in his other back pocket to take out later and check the watch he had on his left wrist. Comparing it to the bell schedule, he found that it was three minutes until second period started. He huffed and made a face of disdain. It wasn't a very long time, but he still was irritated.

"I hate waiting," he grumbled.

The few minutes passed, and very slowly in Sasori's impatient view, and the bell rang. Students flooded out of the classroom and other classrooms he could see down the corridor. When Sasori thought that no more students would exit, he entered the doorway of his classroom ...only to crash into another student, coming out a few seconds later than the other students, and fall down painfully.

_What... the hell? _He thought to himself.

When the shock of the impact with the floor wore off, he glared at the person who collided with him and prepared to mouth them off. It appeared to be a girl with golden blonde hair and baby blue eyes. She backed away from him about five feet and had her books held tightly against her chest. The obvious fear in her eyes made whatever curse that Sasori held on his tongue slipped away and he was left speechless for a reason he could not explain.

"S-sorry," the girl whispered. It was loud enough for him to hear, but it was still a whisper.

Words came back to the red-head right in time for him to say, "I'm fine. Don't worry."

She nodded frantically and dashed out the door before he even stood up. When he did get up, he just went straight to the teacher and gave him the slip of paper, however, the girl stuck at the back of his mind along with a thought he had.

_What a weird girl._

_-----_

**And that's the end of the first chapter! (though not necessarily Sasori's first day.) Can anyone guess who that blonde is? Well, anyways, watch the way I word things, how I say things and how I don't say things. ^_^ I'll explain later on. Reviews are loved.**


	2. Peeking In

**Author's Note: If I have any grammatical errors, could you please point them out to me? And if you have any questions, feel free to ask.**

**Oh, to add a note here, they do have chakra and they can use jutsus and stuff, but it's not a big thing inside of this story. I may use it at times, but not very much because, for the most part, only the advanced, advanced students know how to use it in the story. Think of chakra and jutsus as an amazing, extreme level physical ability just for now. You know, a skill some people worked extremely hard at to gain.**

**Replies and thank yous:**

**Blood**** Drenched Scorpion - Do you really think so? Thank you so much for your review, I didn't think of it that way, but I'll try to live up to the potential. Sasori is fourteen-year-old freshman in high school, as are most of the other characters, including Deidara. I'll point out who's not a freshman when they get introduced, otherwise, just assume they're freshman. **

**Deidara2216 - I'll keep on writing because you guys inspire me to. ^_^ Thank you for all your favorites.**

**Thank you to the people who added this story to their alert. (You know who you are.) **

**I thank all of you for your support. I'm doing this to entertain myself, you, and improve myself. Again, Thank**** you for reading, reviewing and/or favoriting this, it means a lot! **

**-----**

The bell rang, to Sasori's relief. For the past hour he had been subjected to listening to listening to his third period teacher unanimatedly lecture on a few algebraic formulas that they needed to know and memorize in order to pass the Geometry class he taught. Sasori had memorized those formulas two years ago and had used them for the whole duration of the year after. The lesson was very boring and very basic, considering it was the first day of the second week. It was also to his regret that he skipped out on his first period because it had been woodshop. When he stood outside of his second period, he didn't consider it, but he might have needed that little bit of fun to get through the day better.

He stretched his stiff limbs and followed after the last of his classmates. The layout of the school was imprinted in his mind, however, for some reason, he couldn't remember what was his fourth period class. Sasori pulled his schedule out of his back pocket, ignoring the looks of the people who wanted to sneak a glance. What he saw didn't please him at all, rather, it annoyed him to no end.

_Choir? Since when did I sign up for Choir?_ he thought. That was when he remembered (in the student handbook) how the school system's many ways of eliminating unwanted students and making space for others worked. For one, if a student were absent the first day, they are put on probation to be booted to make room for other students. The second day absent they are given a phone warning and on the third absence, they are moved into another class that needed more students. It looked to Sasori that the art class he had signed up for booted him out.

He groaned and hurried to the Choir classroom, which was on the far end of the campus from where he had just exited his class. He made it into the classroom while is was still mostly empty. Among the students that arrived before him, there was only one friendly face he recognized that he found on the farthest seat to the right of the classroom. (The entrance was on the left.)

"Hey, Sasori!" Hidan hollared, waving at his friend.

Hidan was a very old friend of Sasori's. They had known each other ever since his grandmother had died. He lived just a couple blocks down from the redhead and they often talked over the internet chatrooms.

"Hey, dumbass. What kind of flunky actions caused you to be placed in this class?" Sasori replied, sitting next to the albino. "A complete fail?"

Hidan grinned and laughed, "Hey, how'd you know?"

"I can tell just by guessing."

"I only failed because instead of shooting the targets, I started killing animals in Archery."

"For sacrifice?"

"You know it," he said. "But you know, I'm not that bad at archery. I mean, I shot them in the face or chest every time, you know?"

A small smile tugged at the ends of his lips as rolled his eyes and exchanged their "handshake." (1)

"So what are you doing in here?" Hidan asked.

"What, you mean you didn't notice?" Sasori asked in return. "I was gone for a whole week."

"Oh, really? Then that explains a lot. You weren't on IM for the past week," the Jashinist replied. "Well, anyways, it's a good thing you're in here cause I was being driven insane. These two girls that sit behind me-" he jerked his thumb to a set of empty chairs behind himself, "-won't leave me alone! And their voices are so damn high pitched even though they're altos, it's pissing me off, but now I have somebody to distract me from them, right?"

"Glad to be of service."

They sat there, chatting and Hidan named all the other students he knew that came into the gradually filling classroom. The two girls that Hidan had mentioned earlier didn't talk to him today and instead, they whispered to each other while looking at and possibly discussing Sasori.

"Don't talk to them 'cause they're going to annoy the shit out of you," the albino explained, happy that the girls didn't annoy him. "That's the mistake I made on the first day."

"Okay... I'll take care not to," Sasori agreed. "Is that all of the students?"

"Nah, there's still Deidara and her friend whats-her-face," Hidan said.

"Deidara?"

"Yeah, there she is now."

The white haired teen pointed to the doorway where there was a very shy looking girl who was pale with nearly-white violet eyes. She came in slightly flushed and out of breath next to an also flushed and out of breath, familiar looking blonde... Sasori's breath hitched as he unconsciously held it. Hidan gave him a strange look that soon became a wickedly strange smile. He leaned very close to his friend's ear and whispered as low as he could so that there was no chance that nobody else could hear.

"I see you've taken an interest..."

Sasori flinched away from Hidan in surprise at him being so close and at his statement. The strange smile turned into a small smirk and the Jashinist's expression turned into a knowing one.

"Which one is it?" he asked.

"Which one is it? What kind of question is that?" Sasori asked. He had no idea why, but he was unnerved by how Hidan was acting, as if Hidan knew something that he didn't. "I've taken an interest in what?

"Deidara's the blonde one, by the way."

Deidara sat down and happened to see Sasori. Both of them averted their gazes from each other. Hidan chuckled evilly, annoying Sasori more than he was. The red head didn't think that the response was an appropriate answer.

"Oho... I see!" he whispered playfully. "You like Deidara~!"

He leaned backwards and raised a hand to slap Sasori on the shoulder, but the red head immediately twisted his torso so that his arm would be out of range of the swing.

"Hey! You remember what happened last time? Think!"

"Oh yeah." Hidan grinned sheepishly. "But you do like her, right?"

"I don't. I don't even know what 'like' you're talking about, but if I did, I doubt my answer would be 'yes.'"

Shrugging, his friend his sat back in his chair with the smirk back on his face.

"Say what you like."

"Besides, I don't even know her. I had barely crashed into her this morning."

"So you do know what 'like' I'm talking about?"

"..."

Hidan ignored his silent reply and continued, "Well, you exchanged a few words, right?"

"Yeah..."

"And you know her name now, right?"

"I guess."

"So you'll get to know her soon enough!"

Sasori was about to argue back, but after all the students were seated, a red haired woman wearing the strangest outfit Sasori had ever seen came out of an office like room within the classroom and immediately the class became hushed. She wore a short sleeved robe that came down to her knees with a long-sleeved, black undershirt. Her shins and feet were bandaged as if she were some kind of martial artist, though she did wear a normal-looking pair of black, ankle-high boots.

The teacher scanned the students, then smiled.

"Glad to see that you're all behaving today," she said. She then walked up to the piano centered at the front of the room and took attendance on the laptop that sat on it. "Akasuna Sasori! That kid's never he-"

"I'm right here, miss," Sasori said, raising his hand.

"Oh hey, you're here," she said with a bit of surprise. "Well, it's about time we got another boy in here. Nice to meet you, my name is Tayuya and I am the director of the choral and instrumental departments here, so that basically means the whole music department."

"Nice to meet you too."

"I assume you're a bass, since you're sitting there, right?" the music teacher asked.

"Bass? I don't know."

Sasori knew what bass was and a surprisingly advanced amount of music, but he had not an idea of how to tell if he was a bass singer or not.

"Yeah, just sit there and sing with the other guys there," Tayuya explained. "I'll ask you about it later. Let's get started."

With that being said, she continued with attendance. When she finished, she shut the computer, put it away, and immediately got on the piano to play a simple "warm up" tune.

"Okay, for you guys who haven't been here before," she said, tossing a glance at Sasori, "pick a note in the chord that you're comfortable with," she played the beginning chord, broke it down, and played it again, "and stay on that note. It doesn't matter what I play, just keep singing 'ah' until I tell you to breathe, then go to the next note in the next chord I play. And don't you dare breathe until I say so!"

Tayuya broke down the chord again, played it again, and raised her unoccupied hand in the air. All the students breathed in, so Sasori did the same. He subconsciously memorized the tone of the lowest note in the chord so that when she brought down her hand, he sang it back to her on the vowel "ah." He was happy to know that he blended in with the rest of the guys around him. But even though they were all on the same note, he could pick out Hidan's voice from them.

_It's so strange how we can blend and still be heard individually like that..._ he thought.

Tayuya moved the chord up a note and immediately rose her hand up again while shouting "Breathe!" over the singing. Right away, the class took in a breath and sang the next note they had in the chord. The actions repeated until the girls on the far left were close to breaking glass (though they somehow still sounded good). They all looked flushed, including Sasori, who had some difficulty reaching the last note, even though he could. He was quite proud of himself and grinned slightly, not noticing where his eyes trailed until it was too late. His eyes, yet again, crossed paths with Deidara's and she immediately averted her gaze. However, Sasori didn't turn his away, and instead risked watching her with growing interest until Hidan slapped him on the back.

"You got it in you!" he shouted, laughing.

"Thanks?"

"Who knew you were going to be so good at choir?"

"Same to you."

"HIDAN!"

The music teacher shot a white board marker at Hidan, making it fly and smacked him right on his forehead. Very painfully. The whole class had turned to him when Tayuya had shouted his name, and then the whole class laughed after he got hit with the marker and fell down from the force of it.

"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up before you stop talking between singing?" she yelled.

"Maybe a few more times and I'll get the message," the Jashinist replied, standing up. "I'm pretty slow."

Rolling her eyes and sighing, she continued with the class. The rest of the period was spent practicing other vocal warm ups and discussing "Choir Fees." Now that Sasori had seen what the musical director could do, he knew why the class had quieted and that he shouldn't cross paths with the brunt of her anger. When the bell rang, she dismissed the class for lunch. Sasori followed Hidan out, and as he did, he happened to walk near Deidara as he exited. He was going to let her pass, but she flinched away about two feet... Something inside his chest felt like it got stabbed at her action, but he disreguarded it. Hidan went to get his lunch and Sasori didn't like to eat at school, so he waited for him to get his lunch, and walked with him to the table he sat at.

"That marker must have really hurt to make you fall down like that," Sasori commented, seeing the mark. It was a nasty purple-blue color.

"Yeah... It hurt... a lot..." Hidan replied. He rubbed the spot, thinking it would be red, but winced when he felt the bruise. "Oww..."

"Does this happen a lot?"

"No, it's only happened one time before this and it was when I was telling those girls to shut up last Wednesday," the albino said with a sigh. "The only difference last time was that I was turned around, so she got the back of my head."

"Put your juice box on your face, it'll help."

"How?"

"Just do it."

Hidan shrugged and complied before continuing with their chat.

"Well, anyways, I sit with this group of guys that I know and you know them too, from near our neighborhood and from middle school," he said. "They're over there."

He jerked his head over to the table where Sasori indeed recognized most of their faces. When they came close, all of the boys sitting at the table greeted both of them. Sasori recognized from their neighborhood Zetsu (a junior) and Tobi, who were his neighbors, and Pein (a senior) and Kakuzu (a sophomore), who lived closer to Hidan. From middle school, he recognized Kisame and Itachi, but there was one person he didn't know. It was a girl that had hair with a startling shade of blue with slight purple undertones. She wore a paper rose in her hair, purple eyeshadow, and a piercing in her lower lip. He presumed that her red eyes were due to a pair of contacts, since she didn't seem to be an albino like Hidan.

"Hello," she greeted, smiling.

She seemed very friendly and moved over to make room for Hidan, while Sasori sat across from her next to Kisame.

"Hello," he said in reply. "Hey guys, long time no see."

Itachi "hn"-ed, Kisame exchanged with him the "handshake" before going back to devouring his food, Tobi said "HI!" with an energetic wave, Pein nodded in his direction with a smile, and the other two just returned the verbal greeting.

"So who's this lovely lady here?" asked Sasori, rather politely.

"My name is Konan," Konan said. "It's nice to meet you."

"She's my girlfriend," Pein added. "So be nice."

"I never would have guessed," he replied. He held a little sarcasm in his voice with good humor.

It was actually his first impression that Konan would be Pein's match. The fact both had wild hair colors, piercings, and out-of-the-ordinary contacts and sat right next to each other were a dead giveaway.

"Yeah, isn't she a doll?" Pein asked in the middle of a bite. A bit of meat flew out of his mouth, narrowly missing Sasori as he dodged it. "Sorry." He swallowed.

Sasori, after shifting his position to avoid any other bits of food, chanced to see a blonde ponytail and his eyes automatically were stuck in that direction. It wasn't Deidara, but the girl went to sit down at a table where the other blonde was. He watched as they chatted happily and laughed for a long while.

"Ahem."

The red head snapped back to attention and looked at Hidan, who was the one who cleared his throat. Everybody else had fallen into their own seperate conversations in the while he was staring at the blue-eyed girls across the room.

"Huh?" was Sasori's dull-minded answer. He felt strange, like his mind had melted during his time distracted and had put him in a slightly disoriented state, but he was quickly getting over it.

"You so like her."

**1 - I don't know what it's called, but it's when guys in high school greet each other. They kind of hold out their right hand and do a sidewards five (or immediately go to the five) and then they touch knuckles. I think it's a universal, friendly, guy greeting and I do it sometimes too to my guy friends, but again, I have no idea what it's called or how exactly to describe it. If I ever make or find a video of it and you guys are still confused, I'll put it on my profile or something.**

**Please don't be disappointed if the next chapter isn't as long, I think this one took quite an extra bit of thought compared to the others to put together... I'll keep trying, but the future results might never be as lengthy.**


	3. Taking a Glance

**Author's note: I know that everything seems pretty obvious right now, but that's done for a reason, like a lot of the stuff in this story. Still, you can ask me questions that are unclear to you, I don't mind. ^_^ Also, I ask again, please point out any grammatical errors and such.**

**Jadedfox2 - It's nice to hear from you again! And yes, he is, but I plan to take that off the first chapter so any new readers later on won't know. You guys are special and get to know beforehand, I guess. ^_^**

**Slayers64 - Thank you for your review. I hope you enjoy this chapter, there's a lot of denials and a few stray thoughts. **

**Deidara2216 - Yup, and if you keep reviewing, you'll probably always be up here.**

**Blood Drenched Scorpion - Yeah, I have to admit it was pretty harsh kicking him out of the class, but Sasori technically didn't flunk, he got booted. Hidan's the one who flunked. Really? I thought that people wouldn't like that Deidara would be shy because he usually walks around with a big ego, but thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah, the guy greeting is a bit awkward to me too, (not in real life, but in the story) but I'm thinking of making it an important thing later on. Maybe, maybe not. **

**xxSASORIxDEIDARAxx - Deidara's gender, if you are still confused about, you will find out later, my friend. ^_^**

**Reviews, alerts, favorites, reads, they all are loves!**

**----**

"I do _not._"

"Yeah, yeah, lover boy. You can't fool me," Hidan said.

"Yes, I can," Sasori replied. "You're just that dumb."

"Well, you can't fool me this time. I saw how you looked at her."

Sasori opened his mouth to deny the statement-

"You looked like you lost your mind."

-but then he closed his mouth and refused to meet Hidan's teasing eyes. It only made the albino all the more smug.

"I knew it was bullshit when you denied it," he stated, triumphantly.

The red head rolled his eyes and sighed, not wanting to continue the conversation. It unnerved him.

"Oh~! There she is!" Hidan threw his arm over Sasori's shoulders, dragged him closer and pointed to Deidara, who was right in front of them, but talking to her friend and too distracted to see them. "Good luck! I gotta go to Bio."

He shoved him forward and dashed off, disappearing before Sasori could say another word. He wondered why fate had to give him such problems and right then, the bell rang to signal the five minute passing for the students to get to class. He had physical education and Deidara was directly in his path to the boys' locker rooms, though there was the obvious space around her. To add to that, it seemed that Deidara needed to get to the girls' locker rooms and had begun to head in his direction. Cursing his luck, he took a breath before also walking in her direction. It was hard for him to do so, but he kept his eyes trained on the general area of the boys' locker rooms and succeeded in preventing his eyes from flicking in her direction. When they passed, he unknowingly lost the ability to breathe while they were in such a close proximity and kept his focus away from her.

Nevertheless, out of the corner of his eye, he saw her flinch away and again, something inside his chest felt a stab of pain. The pain was so unexpected, he nearly gasped from the surprise and was shocked at how foreign it was. Shaking it off and unconsciously pulling the long sleeves of his shirt past his fingers, he quickened his pace to get his mind off of what just happened, which was a bad decision on his part because he collided with Tobi the moment he reached the doors to the locker rooms. However, unlike that morning, Tobi was the only one who fell down.

"Owie!" he shouted.

Sasori just stood in front of him, slightly amused at how the events played out over the course of the day. He only helped up the masked teen when he extended his hand to ask for help up.

"Thank you, very much," Tobi said. "Is Sasori-niisan going to be in this PE class too?"

"I'm guessing," Sasori replied. "Is your teacher named Jiraya?"

"Yes."

"Then yes. Is he still in his office?"

"Yes!"

"Where is his office?"

"Over there," Tobi said, pointing in a general direction. "Tobi has to go sit down on his number now."

"Okay, bye Tobi, I'll talk to you later."

Tobi nodded and happily sprinted by him. Sasori went into the locker rooms (which smelled like sweat, mold, and dirty cheese) and looked for the physical education teacher in the direction where Tobi had pointed him out while trying avoid flying objects that, upon closer inspection, were extremely repulsuve. In an office-like room within the locker rooms sat a man with extremely long, extremely spiky hair and he was focusing all his attention on a poster of a woman who was almost completely naked.

_What a perverted bastard,_ he thought. _Is there something wrong with this school?_

"Ahem." Sasori cleared his throat.

As a result, the man toppled out of his chair backwards and landed, quite comically, on his head and the poster flew out of his hand under another desk. He got up and dusted himself, apparently uncaring for the poster.

"Can I help you?" he asked. "My name's Jiraya, by the way."

"Yes, I've heard," Sasori replied. "My name is Akasuna Sasori, I'm a student in your class and I haven't attended for the last week, for which I apologize."

"You know my class is for those who have slight physical drawbacks, ailments, afflictions, injuries, and so-on, right?"

The teen dug through his backpack and handed Jiraya a doctor's note, signed and completely legitimate. The old man looked it over, then examined Sasori closely.

"You don't seem to have anything wrong with you," he stated.

Sasori wordlessly held up his hand and flexed it, displaying all the parts of his wooden appendage and causing Jiraya to raise an eyebrow.

"How bad is it?" he asked.

"All my limbs are artificial. My arms are wooden and my legs look normal. Up to my hipbone for my legs and up to my shoulder for my arms. They work just like normal limbs however, though they are unable to take weights beyond twice my weight, working together that is."

The teacher nodded and wrote something down.

"Okay then, you'll do just fine in my class," he said. "Get your PE clothes on and meet the class outside by the numbers."

Sasori did so. He was feeling just a bit uncomfortable and was eager to leave the office. He didn't like to talk about himself very much and though he was used to explaining his condition when he was required, it never felt right to admit that he wasn't whole. The teen shrugged off the thoughts and uneasiness along with his clothes. He kept his long sleeved shirt on, however, and just tossed the PE t-shirt over it. When he had his shoe laces tied and his stuff locked up, he left the locker rooms to the numbers. (they were marked on the map as a set of dots with a lable)

When he got out there, he was astounded by how bad his luck was, and at the very same time he was happy to be so lucky. The sensation that the thoughts brought made him a tad bit confused, if not (though Sasori would never admit) scared. He walked around and stood near the beginning of the numbers (near number "1") and glanced back at the bright spot of yellow sunshine that was brought to his attention. There were actually two blondes in the class, both he assumed were girls because of how long their hair was and one he assumed was Deidara. They were sitting right next to each other, one was turning away from him, and the other had their head down while they hugged their legs, so he couldn't tell right away. Upon closer inspection, he saw Deidara was hugging her legs because her arms bandaged. He also saw that she didn't wear her long sleeved shirt like he did and without it was revealed that her bandages wrapped not only the palms and back of her hand, but completely covered her arm and trailed upwards until it disappeared into her shirt.

_I wonder what happened to her..._

"Hi Sasori-niisan!"

Sasori turned to where he had heard his name and saw that Tobi had called him. He was waving rather energetically, making Sasori want to roll his eyes, but he continued to watch the masked teen. When he stopped waving, he pointed to the empty spot of number "2" and said, "That's your number, niisan."

"Thank you," the elder teen said. Truly he was grateful because when he sat down, he found that after he sat down, Deidara couldn't attract his attention.

Jiraya came out a few moments after he sat down and grinned at him. For the rest of the period after he took attendance, they went into the gym to sprint. The only fact that discontented the red head was that he always was disturbed somehow at a flash of blonde he saw out of the corner of his eye the whole time. The white haired teacher dismissed them soon enough to change and it wasn't long before the red head was walking off to his last class of the day. Tobi was walking with him to the Biology room, talking about how much he didn't like running "The Mile." To Sasori, that wasn't a long distance and he could run much farther without exhausting, but he found it quite entertaining to hear him complain.

"It's always weird at the beginning, like... Hmm... I'm nervous!" A nod. "Then when he blows the whistle, we just take off and I feel tired right away, even though I can keep running."

"Yeah, right."

"It's true!"

"I never said I didn't believe you..."

"Oh! Okay. I have to get to class, I'll see you later, Sasori-niisan!"

The elder teen nodded and parted ways with Tobi to go to his own class. He was quite happy to be rid of the blonde enigma and thought that the rest of the day was sure to be peaceful. He was almost shocked to see that Deidara walked into the very classroom moments after he had sat down. However, he was not very surprised because he had half expected it happen and because of his previous coindidences. He was shocked because he didn't think that the circumstances would ever match up to his half-expectance. At the beginning to the class, the students had been allowed to sit where they wanted, though he could hear whispers that they were getting assigned seats that day.

_Fate just doesn't want the sunspot to leave me alone..._ he thought. _It can't get any worse than having her in three classes._

He did his best to ignore her existance, though hard as it was, in hopes of forgetting her completely. When the seats they were called out, the teen realized that she had been assigned to sit right next to him.

_I see that it CAN get worse now, _Sasori brooded._ It's going to be a nuisance to have her distracting me in so many classes._

After they all sat down, the teacher passed out a simple worksheet on organic compounds. He focused entirely on the worksheet, even though it was easy, and wrote as neat as possible, just to keep Deidara out of his mind. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that she glanced at him a few times, but always turned away, fixing the bangs in front of her face. It was torture for him to sit there and he had no idea why, however, he had resolved not to look to the side and just put his head down when he finished the worksheet.

"You seem to be really distracted," someone said.

Sasori lifted his head and saw Itachi, who he hadn't noticed before.

"Sorry, Itachi," the red head growled, putting his head back down. "I didn't see you there."

Itachi knew that Sasori wasn't irritated at him, though he was still curious.

"Irritated?" he asked.

"Yes," came Sasori's muffled reply.

"Why?"

"The sun is too bright and it's everywhere."

"..."

It took a few seconds for Itachi to realize that he was talking about Deidara.

"Get over it," Itachi suggested.

"I wish. She's so damn distracting," Sasori said, careful to make sure only Itachi heard.

"Get over it," the raven haired teen repeated. "In any case, pack up, it's about time to leave."

Sasori complied

It never occured to him to think of why she was so distracting. He drove home that day just thinking that she was annoying, though she had not spoken more than one word to him, and the thought of examining "why" never crossed his mind.

**----**

**I have to admit, this isn't the best of chapters I've ever written, but I'll definitely try harder next time. The next chapter will be in Sasori's point of view. This chapter concludes Sasori's first day and the agonizingly long introduction. I'll try to get the train moving along, but I'll never know until it happens.**


	4. One Step In

**Author's Note: Sorry for not updating sooner, I have a lot of things going on in my life and a few setbacks prevented me from giving the train a push. (My ego got smashed and I went through tons of misunderstandings... Life is very difficult in high school and... you probably won't wanna hear my excuses because I have a million and a half) Well anyways, I loved all your reviews. All of them. They help me a lot and encourage me through confusing times. In this chapter, I'm hoping you guys won't mind Sasori having a few emotions. I didn't get any questions, so I'm guessing that chapter 3 wasn't too grammatically incorrect. Read, enjoy, and review!**

**jadedfox2 - I'm never sure how the endings of chapters will go, so I hope you'll like this one enough. ^_^" I'm always winging it with some sort of loose guideline so everything is a surprise to me too.**

**Deidara2216 - I snuck something funny in the story this time. It's not very big, but it made me laugh.**

**Slayers64 - Yes, he is very confused despite being Sasori, for love confuses even the wisest of minds. **

**snail - It's going to become clear later on. I'm not sure how later on, but it will. Thanks for reviewing on the first chapter, it's very difficult for new readers to do so because of laziness and the temptation to just read on. (No offense, I love being lazy too guys) **

**Blood Drenched Scorpion - I definitely have no mercy on Sasori. (Okay, maybe a little) Just like life has no mercy on anybody. (kinda)**

**-----**

Sasori's P.O.V.

I drove to school after dropping off the three of my cousins at their babysitter. I secretly wished that somebody else would take them other than the old lady two blocks down from my house because I know she cooks terrible and sleeps most of the time, but I had no other choice at the moment. I parked my car in the student parking lot, did all sorts of things, then got out and locked it. When I had my keys inside of my backpack, I headed to the woodshop classroom. I could have sworn the tips of my fingers had a warm tingle, then I remembered they couldn't feel. Unlike my legs, they didn't have an extension for my nervous system running through them. The woodshop classroom was fairly close to the student parking lot, so it didn't take me very long to get there. Through the glass window of the door, I saw a man sawing some wood, and I was going to leave him alone, but he saw me and beckoned me in while turning off the machine.

"Hello there," the man said, shaking my hand. He didn't seem to notice how I had my sleeves up to my fingertips, nor did he seem to mind. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," I replied.

_Those words have come out of my mouth several times... It's starting to get on my nerves, _I thought.

"Can I help you at all?" he asked, releasing my hand.

"I was just going to wait outside because I'm supposed to have this class first period. My absences yesterday and last week have been excused already."

"Ah, then you must be Sasori. My name is-" I couldn't recall what he said his name was because I "zoned out." The smell of cut wood was very distracting... "But you can call me Mr. Enko for short."

He explained me his instructions on the assessment he gave me. It was to ensure that I was responsible enough and experienced enough to take woodshop. I took the paper and sat down, occupied with filling it out for the rest of the morning until the bell rang, signalling that school had begun and the students had five minutes to get to their classes. I put my name at the top and gave the paper to Mr. Enko. When I turned back to the table I was sitting at, somebody had taken the seat, probably the person who it was assigned to. They were about to put my backpack on the ground, so I took it from them and politely muttered a small apology. I sat down at an empty table at the back.

_Ring~_

"Okay, settle down, settle down, and please be quiet," Mr. Enko called. "Today we have a new student, over there in the back. He's been absent for a while and it's his first day in woodshop, however, he seems to be advanced in the art. Please welcome him as you would like to be welcomed."

The students in the class all turned to look at me at the same time. I ignored their whispers, though I caught a few comments here and there:

"He looks like a friggin' emo, leave him alone."

"Is that hair color natural?"

"I wonder where he got his clothes. They make him look hot..." "He's not hot, you're just weird."

It was almost amusing how they snapped back to attention when our instructor began to speak again. It's almost like they were afraid they'd be caught.

"So today, I'm giving you each a block that is three by three by two-and-a-half. We're going to be carving and you have free reign over whatever you want to make," Mr. Enko said, eyeing the people who talked. "If you need any help with a shape or pattern you want to make or a technique, you are welcome to ask anytime."

Two students from the backroom brought out the blocks of wood and carving tools. When one of them got to my table, she winked as she put the supplies down and ran off into the backroom again. Her mini-skirt flew upwards while she ran... What a whore she was. Easily setting that aside, I got to work on my block of wood. I was in my own world and I shoved everybody's noises and voices out of it while I worked, it was my domain. Forty minutes felt like just a few seconds to me, but that was when I finished and carved my signature on the bottom of my work. Hushed tones and whispers went through the room again as I leaned back to examine the artistry.

"Wow, he's so good..." "Yeah, it's really pretty and realistic!"

I had to agree on everything they said, however... The cherry blossom sat looking pretty and innocent, earning me admiration and a bit of popularity and I didn't care about any of that... I hated it. (I had no idea why)

When I set it on Mr. Enko's desk, he gave me plenty of praises and criticism before the bell rang, just in time to stop his talking. Before he could start up again, I bowed, ran to get my things and left.

Nothing was unusual about my language arts that day, and my mathematics teacher was going on about things that were supposed to be pure common sense for the whole period, so I didn't pay attention nor did I need to. When he let us work, I finished, then sat there dreading the next period. The blonde was sure to be there and I definitely didn't want to be exposed to the weird things that happened to me when she was around. Nonetheless, the bells were merciless at the only time I'd ever not mind waiting a bit longer...

I was in for a surprise when I arrived at the Choir classroom because the moment I entered, someone pointed their finger right in my face. Needless to say, I wasn't pleased, so I immediately slapped it out of the way. It turned out to be a soprano that I didn't know the name of, but she recoiled from the contact. (My hands probably bruised her finger)

Hidan was waiting for me in his seat and beckoned me over with a foolish grin on his face.

"Hey buddy!" he said. "Ready for another day?"

"It depends," I replied. "Are you going to get hit with another marker?"

"Maybe..."

"I'll be in for a laugh if you do."

He gave me a high five and laughed, although, it made me wonder why he never recoiled from the contact as I expected from the girl.

"So, are you gonna make your move?" he asked.

Somehow, I was not surprised that he would tease me...

"Move on what?" I asked in turn. _Let's see where playing dumb will get me today._

"On Dei-" he paused, then quieted down to a disturbing level. "On _Deidara!"_

His voice was barely a whisper and it unnerved me, but I had an argument ready.

"I don't know her," I said. "And why are you talking like that?"

"She's standing behind us," Hidan said, as if I was supposed to know, "getting her music folder."

Just out of nowhere, some invisible force sealed my lips shut and I froze... Until Hidan whacked my back with almost enough force to know me over.

"Chill, she sat back down," he laughed.

"It's not funny," I retorted.

"Oh yes it is..."

I couldn't help but mirror his grin, I was being ridiculous.

"Okay, maybe it is, but cut it out," I said.

"Yeah, whatever," the albino said. "But if you ever need help, just ask, okay?"

"Ask who? You? Not a chance," I commented. "Why would I ever?"

"Oh, no reason... Except that I know her better than you?"

"Right, I believe you."

"Do you?"

"No," I replied. "I really don't. Prove it to me."

Hidan looked at the clock. He had two to three minutes before the bell rang for class to start.

"Okay, I'll prove it to you then," he paused, "but under one condition."

I smirked, then said, "Yeah? What is it?"

"You'll come to me if you need help," he replied.

"You're on, I agree, if you can prove to me that you're close enough to her to help."

Right there, I felt like I was making a good mistake, one where it was a mistake to do, but could probably benefit me... Still, it did feel somewhat of a mistake. He walked over to her and sat down in the empty seat next to her. She hadn't noticed him because she was talking to the black haired girl, but then he leaned over and nudged her shoulder with his all while staring at the ceiling and grinning like a child. Their shoulders were still touching when she twisted her head around to see it was him. Deidara pause the conversation with the black haired girl to shove him away from herself, gently, slowly, and playfully. Hidan said something that made her roll her eyes and a tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks... The only words that I could figure out from her lips were "Shut up, Hidan."

I was sure that when she said that, Hidan would leave her alone, but he didn't. Instead, he said some teasing words that roll her eyes and give him another playful push on the shoulder. Hidan looked at the clock again, seeing he had only about half a minute, he said gave some more teases, earning himself a hug. Then it seemed he excused himself from the conversation when he gestured to his own seat. I thought that was the end of it, but she made some other kind of gesture and asked some kind of question... then they HUGGED.

I didn't even notice that my face held surprise because I was so in my surprise. Hidan walked back and sat down, crossing his arms and sitting back with an expression of triumph on his features.

"Got anything to say, lover boy?" he taunted slightly.

I bit the inside of my lip and casually looked the other way. I knew that my face was a bit hot because some kind of embarrassment mixed with another feeling... A squeezing around my heart slightly clouding my judgement... Jealousy. I felt jealous? Most likely. That, and I really didn't want to admit my defeat...

"You win," I hissed, albeit reluctantly.

He chuckled right before the bell rang, and I was happy for it drowned out the evidence of my fail.

**-----**

**Read, review, and again, I'm sorry for the long wait. XP It's not my fault, really! (not really) Please be patient, I'm working on the next chapter right now, but I only have the weekends to do it. Probably it'll be up by 2/25, if not, slay me. (No, just slap me please)**


	5. No Way Further

**Author's Note: Just to say, this story kinda follows the current date, (to those who are updated with this story) so this chapter takes place in March! It's too complicated for me to set in September. So timeskips are when I don't update... XD Sorry this chapter came out late. My knuckles are bruised from the abuse I administered upon them. (Punching walls in anger isn't smart, but it feels so good. ^_^ Ow...) Well, since it's also cold, it doesn't help because my fingers are going to be stiff, even more so because of the bruises. If there are any grammatical errors, point them out to me so I may fix them! Read, enjoy, and review so you may enjoy another chapter.**

**-----**

_My chest feels so constricted when he's near. What's happening? I can't breathe with him so close, yet... I want him even closer..._

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**Sasori's POV**

"How long has it been? Hmm?"

"..."

"That's right! Two weeks and you haven't said a word."

"..."

"She's your lab partner!"

"..."

"Does she say anything to you?"

"...Yes."

"Do you say anything back?"

"..."

"I thought so," Hidan said, nodding knowingly. "It's almost Valentine's Day and you haven't said ANYTHING to her."

"Yeah? So what?" I demanded. "I don't see any problems."

"I do, you freaking girl-shy, quiet, umm.... You need to talk to her!"

"No I don't," I argued. I really didn't want to talk about the subject right then. "I'll admit that I'm -what did you call it? Ah- girl-shy, but I DON'T _need_ to talk to her."

_Or maybe I do..._ I thought, after considering it. Something in my chest felt pinched and twisted uncomfortably.

"Yes. You do," Hidan replied, "and I'm going to help you do it! Or, I'm going to have someone help me help you."

I nodded absentmindedly, with my thoughts running off on their own. I stared at the opening of the hallway, where Hidan had dragged me into the small little alley outside of the cafeteria. There were students milling about, eating their lunches and they didn't notice us at all, even though I wished they would...

"Do you know Itachi? Wait, of course you know Itachi," the albino continued. The name of my raven haired friend caught some of my attention. "He told me he has you in Bio and Deidara's in there too. He's gonna help you too."

I made a small noise at the back of my throat to let him know I heard. Hidan sighed and shook his head, but then he pat me on the shoulder.

"Well, anyways, keep a close eye on her too," he said. "Like, if anything changes about her, try and talk to her about it and at LEAST say 'hi' to her, would you?"

I bit my tongue, wanting to give a sarcastic comment, but I knew he just wanted to help.

"It... it's so hard to talk to her," I said instead. Even though it was Hidan, my confession still was extremely embarrassing. I saw the slightly shocked look on his face, but I kept my eyes on my feet and continued. "What if I say the wrong thing? What if she doesn't like me back and just thinks that I'm weird? Of all the times it could happen, whenever I see her, my mind goes completely blank and I _can't_ say anything. I just, hear her words echo through my head and I feel strange inside..." My voice continued to lower as I went on, now it was barely a whisper. "I'm just kinda scared."

I looked out to the opening of the alley again, wondering why Hidan didn't interrupt me. A few uncomfortable seconds passed before I dared to look at him again. He didn't have that usual, teasing grin on his face. Actually, his smile looked close to the loving smile that a father would give his son after seeing him accomplish a great deed of some sort. It was starting to unnerve me.

"W-what?" I asked.

"You finally came to me for help!" Hidan replied, his usual grin returning.

"Yeah, whatever," I replied sheepishly. "So what kind of help do you have?"

"We're going to train your confidence with girls," he held a finger up to stop my upcoming interruption, "or more specifically, your Dei-shyness. Sound good? Itachi will help out too, of course."

I paused to think about what he said, and particularly, if there were any parts that could have double or hidden meaning. I sighed and shook my head, but it was a slightly submissive sigh that told him I agreed. He gave me a nudge on the shoulder with his fist and then messed with my hair, something that he used to do when we were younger and still only did when nobody was watching.

"Alright! We'll start today," Hidan said. "First off-" _Riiiiing_. "-damn!"

"What do I do?" I asked. The albino was always picky about being late. "Hey!" I yelled, over the sound of bustling students.

Hidan turned to go out of the alley and yelled over his shoulder, "Just say 'hi' when she greets you, or better yet, say it first!"

I nodded and was about the turn the other way, but then stopped, feeling that something was forgotten.

"Hidan!"

He stopped in his tracks and looked back at me with a quizzical look.

"Thanks, man. For listening and helping, you know?" I said.

He smiled and nodded before waving and running off to who knows where. I rubbed the back of my head and sighed again, still embarrassed and a bit nervous of house Itachi and Hidan would try to "help" me. I headed over the boy's locker rooms and quickly changed, again, leaving my long-sleeve on under my uniform. I was early because the alley was so close to the PE area, so I was the second person to be out there. Actually, Jiraya was out there already too, and he was talking to Deidara. I resisted my curiousity and stood afar, so as not to eavesdrop, but I did see Deidara give the perv a slip of paper that looked like an excursion from PE and she explained to him more of it from what I guessed. He nodded and pocketed the paper, so I took that as my cue for a safe approach.

"H-hi..." Deidara whispered.

She raised her hand, as if to wave, but it stopped midway when my eyes dropped to the floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her hand pull back and her fingers curl into a shy fist, before going over her heart, then finally dropping and relaxing. Seeing this, I was going to say something back because I felt her hurt, but her eyes were on the ground when I looked back at her, I just muttered a small, "Hi..." back. It was nearly inaudible, but she heard it and the expression that lit up her face took my breath away. Almost literally. She had an initial look of surprise, but then it was taken over with warm happiness and small wisp of laughter escaped her as well as a bright smile.

"Ahem..."

We both turned our attention to the white haired perv, who we had forgotten about. His notice had wiped the beautiful expression from Deidara's face and I hated him for it. But then again, moments like that never last forever...

"Well, you two should sit down. The rest of the class will be coming soon," he said. We complied.

"Why are you out so early, coach?" Deidara asked.

"Just to have a bit of fun," Jiraya replied. "Just watch."

We did watch as he stepped forward a few steps, so as to be visible once the students rounded the corner. When our other classmates came, they sprinted as hard as they could, thinking they were late... Jiraya just laughed, and I had to admit, it was pretty amusing. They all arrived at the numbers bright red and breathless while the three of us were enjoying ourselves. They were all sharing confused looks with each other (except Tobi) when Jiraya finally laughed aloud. He wiped a tear from his eye and chuckled, then gesturing for the class to sit down.

"Alright guys, I'm going to do a health test on all of you," he said, clearing his throat. "We're going to test the percentage of fat in your overall weight. It helps me grade you, so don't complain. Stand up and follow me."

I stood up and followed him, Tobi came close behind me, and just started to talk his mask off. When he realized I wasn't going to say anything back, he went over to Deidara and started to chat with her and they seemed to have a pretty active conversation. For some reason, I didn't feel the envious tug in my chest like I did earlier, so I just kept walking, following Jiraya. He took us into the boy's gym and sat us around in a tight group.

"Alright," he said, stopping the conversations. "Everybody inside?"

I looked around at the rest of the group, noticing that Tobi sat next to me with Deidara on his other side... Sneaky brat. It so happened that we were going to be tested on the percentage of weight that is fat in our bodies by the instructor pinching the fat surrounding the tricep. Jiraya demonstrated on the other blonde girl, "Ino" he called her. He pinched the specific section of her arm

"Ah!" she gasped. "That hurt!"

Jiraya just grinned, then let go of her arm and said, "Eighteen percent."

Ino rubbed her arm and sat down next to Deidara, frowning. They exchanged a few words and soon Deidara was rubbing her arm nervously. Jiraya went through the students and had his TA record the results until Deidara and I were the only ones not tested. He called me up and took one look at my arm before changing his mind. He laughed at himself and then turned me around.

"Forget it, sit down," he chuckled. "I forgot."

I sat down without complaint. I really didn't want Deidara to find out about my arms... The thought of it was daunting. I mean, who would want somebody that is incomplete? That is-

"Deidara?" Jiraya called.

The blonde got all wide eyed and shook she shook her head. To my surprise, he actually didn't call her up and just dismissed us, however, he gestured for her alone to talk to him after he _thought_ the class left. I hung by the door, hidden, trying to hear what they were saying. I knew that I wasn't being polite, eavesdropping like so, but their exchange of reactions sparked curiosity within me.

It seemed like Jiraya was scolding Deidara while she just nodded, shamefully looking at the floor. Jiraya had her sit down on a bench to the side and he held out his hand with a few words. Deidara held out her arm in return. The teacher held her arm, gently, and slowly pushed up her sleeve.

I gasped silently, or so I thought. They both turned to look in my direction...

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**I'm sorry! It took me forever to do this chapter because... well, I believe I stated this before, this is based on my own lovely little high school romance. But please note, not all of this is real, and I will state as such if you guys have any questions. Just the romantic plot is slightly realistic... Review please! I'll try to have the next chapter, The Secret Lock, up by April 2! End of my quarter = nothing to do.**


	6. The Secret Lock

**Author's Note: This chapter is probably the only one that is NOT a timeskip. So we are picking up from the semi-cliffy of the last chapter. You know what? Scratch what I said in the last chapters. I'll just mark the timeskips and whatnot. ^_^ Oh, let me also remind you that even though I put "Deidara said" or anything like that, she still has a voice that is whisper tone. ^_^ A whisper loud enough to hear, but a whisper nonetheless.**

**Thank you for your reviews guys, I appreciate them. You know who you guys are. ^_^ I don't have time to reply to your reviews, but I read all of them whenever you guys give them. Besides, you'd much rather me spend more time on the story and update a bit faster, yes? Again, thank you to all my reviewers, watchers, and favoriters. Enjoy!**

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Author's POV

Sasori pulled his head from the view of the doorway just in time to avoid being seen by Jiraya and Deidara. Wind blew by, surprisingly, mimicking the sound of his gasp, and they went back to examining Deidara's arm. Very cautiously, Sasori glanced inside again, taking in a second time the sight. Bruises of various shapes and sizes littered her arm among cuts of different lengths, depths, and healings. A long gash on her right arm, obviously more noticeable than the others, ran deep along the back of her forearm all the way to the outer of her biceps and ended with a deep purple bruise completely covering her shoulder.

The sight was engraved into his memory.

He rubbed his own arm, almost feeling her pain. Almost. His arm was still wooden, so he would never feel Deidara's pain the same way; it was impossible for him to understand anything other than _Deidara is hurt._ Then another logical thought entered his mind.

_I wasn't supposed to see this,_ he realized. _It must have been a secret between these two..._

The red headed teen pulled away from the doorway and hurried to the boy's locker room. He felt odd. Some nudging at his chest and some constricting also. It was... Guilt and... jealousy? It was a strange mix of feelings that made him wonder why he felt that way. Sasori rushed through changing, making sure that nobody saw him, then packed up before leaving with his mind still wondering, though the same thoughts ran through his head and it frustrated him that it didn't stray too far from them.

_Deidara is hurt... I wasn't supposed to see... a secret..._

Sasori sat down in the Biology classroom, clearing his thoughts of what he had seen. Thankfully, when the bell rang, he was given a distraction. He kept his eyes off of Deidara and turned to Itachi when he started to talk.

"You seem distracted," Itachi said.

"That's an understatement," Sasori replied. "You have no idea."

"Hn."

Deidara looked at Sasori, hoping that he might look at her. She wondered why he was acting so distant when he gave her a shy greeting just before last period. Instead of talking to him however, she decided to get his attention by talking to someone else.

"Hi, Itachi," she said, smiling. She saw Sasori's eye flicker over to her, but he quickly looked away.

"Good afternoon, Deidara," Itachi replied, smiling a bit. "How are you doing?"

"Just fine," she replied, sitting down. Her eyes were still on Sasori, but Itachi didn't mind. "You?"

"The same. You're not going to say 'hi,' Sasori?"

The red head looked over at Deidara, who had an expression full of hope, shyness, anxiousness, and expectancy all mixed together. He blushed deeply with embarrassment from direct eye contact and turned away to try to hide it. He was going to choose to say nothing when the image of Deidara's arm was refreshed in his mind's eye and he felt a strange tugging in his chest.

"Hi," muttered Sasori. He was sure that Deidara didn't hear him and he was definitely too embarrassed to face her and check.

However, Deidara gave a light, happy sigh at eased the tugging that Sasori had, then replacing it with a warm tingle. The bell rang for the period to begin and Deidara turned her attention to the teacher, who silenced the class by standing up.

"Alright class," he said, "I've already taken attendance to save some time because we have a lab today. It has to do with extracting DNA." The teacher went down the aisles, passing out a worksheet and the instruction sheet. "Do _not_ write on the instruction sheet. I've told you this once, and I'm afraid I have to tell you again, do not write on the instruction sheet. Now, back to the lab... Where was I..."

"The lab has to do with extracting DNA, Mr. Jay," Deidara said.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Deidara," Mr. Jay replied. "I was just checking to see if you were paying attention," he said, playfully.

Mr. Jay continued explaining the lab while the class read along, Sasori read ahead and waited a bit impatiently for the actual lab. It wasn't long before Mr. Jay wrapped up his lecture and answered the questions of the students.

"Before you start, I'm going to assign you groups of four," announced the teacher. A chorus of groans erupted from the class, causing him to chuckle. "I don't trust you guys enough yet for you to pick your own groups. You'll be working with a partner, but sharing materials as a group of four. You four, group one."

He moved along the rows, assigning groups until he got to Sasori's area, which also had Deidara and Itachi nearby and unassigned. He felt slightly uncomfortable at the thought of being grouped together with Deidara, but he felt sure that he wouldn't get assigned with her. There were a few students in the next row by her and a few students in front of her.

_What are the odds?_ he asked himself.

"Alright, you four," Mr. Jay said, making an "L" shape to indicate the four students _surrounding_ Deidara, "Group five."

He turned to the four students left.

"Itachi, Sasori, Deidara-" Sasori flinched, "-and Idate. You're group six. Get to work!"

_Who's Idate?_ Sasori thought suddenly. _He couldn't be the flirtations son-of-a-_

"Hey cutie, it looks like we're in the same group together."

Sasori turned around to see his worst fears confirmed. Idate _was_ the flirtatious person that he had been wondering about... and he was flirting with Deidara. The four of them moved to table six and they began to set up the materials. Except Idate.

"Do you want to be my partner?" he asked her. An innocent enough question, if it weren't for what he was doing while he asked it. Idate leaned in closer, invading Deidara's personal space.

"Umm..." she said. Deidara turned away from him, trying to get away while still setting up some equipment.

She flinched when she felt a hand rub her thigh. Sasori watched with anger boiling beneath the surface of his silent act. It irked him that somebody was being so intimate with her.

_SNAP!_

Itachi and Sasori both turned to see what had made the noise. It sounded like the muffled sound of a bone breaking and it seemed that nobody else heard the noise. The source of the noise came from where Deidara and Idate were. The blonde had him in a headlock with his mouth covered. Deidara's right hand was locked around his neck and held his left arm with it hooked around her left arm while her left arm covered his mouth. She had broken his wrist over her knee. Judging by the tears in his eyes and how fast Idate's wrist was swelling, Sasori could see that it had to be extremely painful.

_"Don't you DARE touch me like that again!" _she hissed. _"I swear that the next time, I'll break MUCH more than your wrist."_

With a quick flick of her wrist, there was another _SNAP!_ and Deidara set the fracture and let go of him before Mr. Jay had even noticed a thing. Sasori smirked and felt the anger fade, as satisfied with Idate's punishment as Deidara. Then the blonde turned to Itachi and smiled, slightly flushed from locking Idate.

"Would you like to be my partner, Itachi?"

"I'd love to."

Sasori sighed, feeling a twinge of jealousy (though he didn't know that) and turned to Idate, who was gripping his wrist. Usually, Deidara or Itachi would be his lab partner, though he was hoping that he wouldn't be put in her group at all, so it felt... different being somebody else. Especially if that somebody else was hitting on the girl he liked.

"So, are we going to get started or what?" Sasori said icily. "I dislike waiting, just as much as I hate keeping others waiting. I think it's about time we started so neither of us are kept on hold, yes?"

Idate looked like he was going to argue and complain, but the redhead shot him a piercing glare that instilled a greater fear in him than Deidara had.

"Yes, sir..." he said shakily.

_Sir?_ Sasori thought.

Shrugging it off, the four of them got to working. Itachi, working with Deidara, noticed the two of them glancing at each other, though at different times. He wondered how he would help the two of them get together, if he could at all. While he working on the DNA extraction with Deidara, he observed them, slightly amused by how quickly Sasori turned away when Deidara caught him watching her work at one point.

_Perhaps I am thinking too much and Hidan's task isn't actually all that difficult, _the raven haired teen thought, but then he remembered something.

The look in Deidara's eyes when Idate had been leaning too close into her personal space... was fear. Itachi was certain it hadn't been anything other than fear, but seconds before he turned away, he had seen a change in her eyes, almost like she remembered where she was. Then when he had his back turned, Deidara had broken his wrist. It definitely was strange, what Itachi saw, but he decided to look into it later.

"Great job, Deidara! You too, Itachi," exclaimed Mr. Jay. "Everybody come over here. This is what your DNA should look like."

The teacher had Deidara and Itachi stand in front of the whole class while the blonde held up what looked like a slight grey piece of gooey slime hanging from a toothpick. Sasori, alone and still at his own lab table, examined his own DNA extraction and saw that it matched Deidara's. He put it into a petri dish and indulged in the oppurtunity to take in the blonde's physical features. A small smile appeared on his face when he saw Deidara light up at the praise she received from the rest of the class, along with Mr. Jay. Seeing her so happy made him just as elated, and just a tad bit bold. The teen was going to get up and give her some praise himself, but he stopped. A girl, one of Deidara's friends, hit Deidara on the arm playfully, but not very gently.

Deidara dropped the DNA and her eyes went blank. Nobody noticed but Sasori and Itachi. Sasori walked towards the two of them while the rest of the class were returning to their desks.

"Deidara?" he said. He turned to Itachi. "Is she okay?"

The Uchiha shrugged, then reached out and touched her shoulder causing her to jerk with surprise, almost like she was just pulled back to reality.

"Are you okay, Deidara?" he asked.

"Y-yeah," whispered Deidara. "I'm fine."

She backed away from the two boys and walked back to her desk to pack up.

_It's a lie,_ Sasori thought, watching the blonde shake. _She's quivering; that's not normal._

Itachi was also watching her while he packed his belongings and he shook his head, seeming just as worried as Sasori was. The bell rang and Itachi left with all the other students, but not without whispering a message in Sasori's ear first.

_Check on her for me. I can't stay after._

The red head had nodded and was waiting for the class to file out before talking to Deidara, who was still at her desk and planning to be the last person out.

--- Sasori's POV ---

I felt just a bit nervous about checking on her for fear of invading her privacy. I wasn't supposed to know that she was injured, but when the image of that gash entered my mind, all that I felt was worry and I decided to go through with it. I knew she wasn't going to leave the classroom before I did and I couldn't talk to her with Mr. Jay there, so I exited the room and waited for her outside. Just as I had predicted, she exited right after me, but she seemed to be distracted and she bumped into me while walking out.

"S-sorry," she said, backing away. She was about to go around me, but I prevented that.

"Are you okay?" I asked, making sure she looked at me.

Her gaze was set upon my face, but she turned away as she said, "Yes, I'm fine." Then she tried to walk away.

I didn't think so. I caught hold of her hand with a firm grip, but softened my voice as much as I could.

"Deidara, are you really okay?" I asked again. "What happened in class?"

"Nothing! Please, just leave me alone!"

She pulled away before I let go and gasped in pain. I was surprised and accidently let go when I shouldn't have, causing her to fall and crumple in a head on the floor. I silently cursed and kneeled down beside her, wanting to help her up.

Deidara slapped away my hand and started to cry.

"No, no! Leave me alone!" she wailed, backing away. "I can't trust you!"

I felt helpless, terrible that I had caused her to cry and stung by her words. I had only wanted to help, but she was on the verge of hysteria.

"Deidara..." I said quietly.

"No..." she moaned, shaking her head. "No... not again..."

_Not again?_ I thought. _Does she think I'll hurt her? Is that why she can't trust me?_

Something strange happened to me at that moment, my heart took over my mind, filled with remorse, sadness, concern, but mostly... something else that I couldn't identify, but it drove me to embrace Deidara without a second thought and it felt right.

"You can trust me, Deidara," I whispered. "I won't hurt you."

"Sasori..."

---**End Chapter**---

**Tell me what you think. ^_^**


	7. The Key Inside

**Alright guys, I loved your reviews, very energetic! It seems that others have stumbled upon my other story "Lost and Found" and they want me to update, even though I haven't touched it in a while. A VERY long while. I have no idea how to continue it or how to complete it, a little help maybe? I'm so glad that I still have some reviewers because the number always tends to drop off when the time between updates increases. **

**To my loyal reviewers who have read since chapter one, I hugs! A few more people added this story onto their alert and their favorites, thank you guys too! I'm trying to update every month.. but I can't. It's just impossible. I like to go slow with the romance, you know? Otherwise, it seems fake. _ (Not that I judge or anything...)**

**Now, we resume the story as we left off... Enjoy!**

**Sasori's POV**

"You can trust me, Deidara," I whispered. "I won't hurt you."

"Sasori..."

I was vaguely aware that she was still crying, but my mind only registered that she was when I heard her sniffle and my shirt became damp where she rested her cheek.

"Deidara... Deidara..." I said, slowly, reassuringly, "I'm sorry. I was just worried..."

She didn't reply, but instead she wrapped her arms around my torso, squeezed and continued to cry. I tightened my embrace and chose to remain silent while I held her. All was quite for the while after, aside from Deidara's crying, and it was peaceful. When she had finally calmed down she tugged away and I let her go, though I let my hands gently rest on her shoulders as I examined her.

Deidara's eyes were slightly red with tears still threatening to spill, but her deep blue eyes gazed into mine with a deep intensity, searching. Her cheeks were flushed and tear-stained in contrast to her otherwise pale face. I realized after I met her searching gaze that... she was breathtakingly beautiful, and truly I could not breathe. I caressed her cheek with my breath hitched in my throat and Deidara held my hand in place, leaning in to the touch.

"Sasori," she said. "I-"

"Deidara!"

The two of us flinched at the sudden intrusion of their shared moment and we soon found that it was Ino that had been the invader of our private while. I sighed and pulled away from Deidara, helping her up as I stood, as Ino came to join us.

"Hi Sasori!" she said cheerfully, then she rounded up on Deidara with false anger. "Where were you Deidara? I was looking for you!"

"Sorry, Ino. I lost track of time with Sasori," Deidara replied, a light smile brightening her face once more.

Ino rolled her eyes and sighed before smiling along with Deidara.

"Well, now that I found you, I need to go to the library and I want you to come with me! Let's go," she insisted, tugging on Deidara's sleeve.

"Okay, okay," Deidara said. "Just start heading there first, I'll be right there."

Ino pouted, but let go and started walking in the direction of the library, leaving Deidara alone with me for just a little longer. Deidara took my hands and gave it a light squeeze with hers before leaning closer towards me. Again, I couldn't breathe and was still as she whispered to me.

"I trust you, Sasori."

She let go of my hands and waved good-bye to me as she ran to catch up with Ino. I was left watching her back retreat and disappear behind a corner, and filled with warmth from head to toe, despite my prosthetic limbs.

She trusted me?

She did.

_But what does that mean? _I wondered. _Why do I feel so... alive? I'm full of warmth..._

I was alive, warm, and overflowing with... some emotion that I could not explain, even if I knew what it was.

**-The Next Day-**

**Author's POV**

"Come on! Tell me!"

"No. Leave me alone."

"Please?"

"No."

"Why?"

"No."

"But-!"

"No."

"You're so mean," Hidan whined, faking a girly voice. "Come on. I saw her sign up for the time space before your audition! There has got to be some sign in that."

"No! There was _no_ sign! There is no sign! It was just the most convenient time for her, it's just the most convenient time for me. Get over it," the red head replied.

_He can't ever know what happened yesterday,_ Sasori thought to himself_, or I'll never hear the end of it._

Hidan sighed and shook his head, but his face brightened when he saw Deidara walk into the room with Hinata. Deidara was chatting animatedly almost like nothing had happened yesterday, though that definitely wasn't the case. Ditching Sasori, the silver haired albino sat in the empty seat next to Deidara's and waited for the both of them to sit down before talking to them. Sasori could immediately tell that Hidan had begun interrogating them, though not as forwardly was with him, and had succeeded in bringing about a blush on Deidara's already flushed face. Apparently the albino brought up the question that he had failed in seeking an answer to with Sasori. Deidara just rolled her eyes and swatted Hidan's shoulder with a few words that looked like, "Shut up, Hidan."

Hidan badgered her a bit more and finally earned an answer that satisfied him enough for him to hug her, then leave her alone. He plopped down beside Sasori again with a clownish grin on his face.

"You sly dog, you!" he said, nudging Sasori.

The red head shook his head, having no idea what he was talking about.

"What did she say?"

Hidan pretended to look innocent as he smiled even wider and said, "Nothing!"

"Good enough for me," Sasori said. He didn't feel like he should know, if Hidan had said "nothing." He felt awkward enough as it was.

The red head tossed a glance at Deidara, and let a smile rest on his lips. He wondered just a little why she had signed up before he had, but it really didn't matter all that much. Just that he would be able to hear her sing, if he got there early enough. The thought made his chest tingle... Deidara had been looking away for a while, but she had caught him staring at her and they both turned away, blushing.

"No sign huh?" Hidan said, smirking.

"Shut up."

"You're blushing."

Sasori's face flushed further.

"You're not helping," Sasori said, whacking him with his music folder.

Hidan just laughed, adding to the noise in the already loud choir room. It seemed everybody was happily chatting about whatever they wanted and had no care in the world, normal for the class when Tayuya was in her sound-proof office. Sasori was going to hit Hidan again, but he froze when Hidan's smile slipped and his eyes became locked upon the entrance of the choir room. The whole room became silent, with the exception of footsteps, thunder following every footfall. Time froze as Sasori turned around to see who it was. His eyes narrowed as he saw the the person was...


End file.
